A full breakfast is a breakfast meal, usually including bacon, sausages, eggs, and a variety of other cooked foods, with a beverage such as coffee or tea which originated in England, United Kingdom. It is especially popular in the UK and Ireland, to the extent that many cafés and pubs offer the meal at any time of day as an "all-day breakfast". It is also popular in other English-speaking countries, particularly countries that were a part of the British Empire. A long established meal in British culture, just under a fifth of British travellers eat a full English breakfast while on holiday overseas.[1]

In England it is usually referred to as a 'full English breakfast' (often shortened to 'full English') or 'fry-up'.[2][3] Other regional names and variants include the 'full Scottish', 'full Welsh', 'full Irish' and the 'Ulster fry'.[4][5][6]

As nearly everything is fried in this meal, it is commonly called a "fry-up". As some of the items are optional, the phrase 'full English breakfast', 'full English' (or 'Full Monty') often specifically denotes a breakfast including everything on offer. The latter name became popular post World War II after British Army general Bernard Montgomery (nicknamed Monty) was said to have started every day with the full works when in the campaign in North Africa.[14]

In Ireland, as elsewhere, the exact constituents of a full breakfast vary, depending on geographical area, personal taste and cultural affiliation. The breakfast became popular there whilst Ireland was a part of the United Kingdom. Traditionally, the most common ingredients in Ireland are bacon rashers, pork sausages, fried eggs (or scrambled), white pudding, black pudding, toast and fried tomato.[15] Sauteed field mushrooms are also sometimes included,[16] as well as baked beans, hash browns, liver, and brown soda bread.[17][18][19] Fried potato farl, boxty or toast is sometimes served as an alternative to brown soda bread.

Similarly to the breakfast roll seen in the south of Ireland, in the north they serve "filled sodas", which usually consist of a soda farl shallow-fried on one side and filled with fried sausages, bacon and eggs. Fried onions or mushrooms are usually added upon request. Filled sodas are a popular choice for breakfast from roadside fast-food vendors.

In Scotland, the full breakfast, as with others, contains eggs, back bacon, link sausage, buttered toast, baked beans, and tea or coffee. Distinctively Scottish elements include Scottish style black pudding, Lorne sausage, and tattie scones. It commonly also includes fried or grilled tomato and/or mushrooms and occasionally haggis, white pudding, fruit pudding[21] or oatcakes.[22][23] As with other breakfasts it has become more common, especially within the home, to grill the meats, puddings and tomatoes and to only fry the eggs and tattie scones. Another more historical Scottish breakfast is porridge and may occasionally be served as a starter.

As in the rest of Britain and Ireland, the composition of a Full Welsh Breakfast (Welsh: Brecwast Cymreig llawn) can vary. However, with the new-found appreciation of Welsh food and recipes, there have been attempts to establish a broad definition.[25]

The traditional Welsh breakfast reflects the coastal aspect of Welsh cuisine. As such it will typically include Welsh cockles and laverbread (a seaweed purée often mixed with oatmeal and fried). Both delicacies are traditionally served with thick bacon, but a Welsh breakfast may also include Welsh sausages, mushrooms and eggs.[25][26] Full Welsh breakfasts are accompanied by traditional breakfast drinks, with Welsh tea a ubiquitous choice. Today, as they are often served throughout the day in public houses or inns, a traditional beer or ale is not uncommon.

Modern alternatives to the traditional full breakfast will often develop the traditional seafood theme. Smoked fish such as Sea Trout or Sewin may be served accompanied with poached eggs.[25]

The style of breakfast has carried over to the United States and Canada. In America it was brought over from the UK when the American Colonies were created, and in Canada because it was a part of the British Empire. Full breakfast in these countries often consists of eggs, various meats, and very commonly fried potatoes such as hash browns, home fries, Potatoes O'Brien, potato pancakes, and some form of bread. Typical breakfast meats include bacon, Canadian bacon, breakfast sausage, ham, scrapple, pork roll, Spam, steak, or country fried steak; in Canada, peameal bacon or cretons are often served. In the Southern US, grits are typically included. Breads served might include toasted bread, English muffins, bagels, or biscuits. Beverages such as coffee and orange juice may be included, and pancakes, waffles, or French toast might accompany the other items. In areas with high Irish populations, such as New York on the East Coast of America, the full English breakfast is more commonly known as an Irish breakfast, due to Irish immigration from the UK during the potato famine.

The full breakfast common in Australia is similar to British and North American variants, with some differences, having spread to Australia when it was a part of the British Empire.

Bacon, eggs, and sausages are the most common aspects of the Australian full breakfast. Tomato, barbecue and Worcestershire sauces are used frequently, as is cheese. Bread is used as the base for most breakfast dishes, however it is common to use bread (or toast) to make a bacon and egg sandwich. Breakfast muffins are an increasingly popular alternative to bread in the Australian full breakfast. Notably absent is the baked beans in this Australian variant.

Regional variants are prevalent, with German influences particularly commonplace in South Australia.

^Gerald, Paul (12 July 2012). "The Full English". Memphis Flyer. Contemporary Media, Inc. Retrieved 30 July 2012. The Irish might have soda bread, a potato pancake called boxty, white pudding (what you're used to, but with oatmeal in it) or black pudding (the same, but with blood cooked in).

^Gerald, Paul (12 July 2012). "The Full English". Memphis Flyer. Contemporary Media, Inc. Retrieved 30 July 2012. The Scots like to have tattie (potato) scones, fruit pudding (actually a sausage made with very little fruit), and, of course, their curse on the earth, haggis.

^Elizabeth Foyster, Christopher A. Whatley (2009). A History of Everyday Life in Scotland, 1600 to 1800. Edinburgh University Press. p. 139.

^Welsh Government. "Wales.com – Food". Government of Wales. Retrieved 30 July 2012. Laverbread, not actually bread at all but seaweed, is rolled in oatmeal, fried into crisp patties and served with eggs, bacon and fresh cockles for a traditional Welsh breakfast.